Week 20 of the 2019-20 NBA regular season is here, and it’s hard to fathom that there is only one full month until the playoffs begin in April. The race in the West is gathering steam, and both the Rockets and Clippers saw huge, momentous results in the win column while Toronto and Boston were hindered by injury and a couple of losses in the East during this past week’s action.
The higher-ups atop the league’s food chain kept their feet on the pedal as both Milwaukee and Los Angeles kept their conference-leading records intact, while the bottom of both conferences shift by the minute like paradigms.
It’s just another week in the NBA season, but things are starting to pick up as we inch closer to the big dance in April.
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1. Milwaukee Bucks (52-8, Last Week’s Ranking: 1)
As if the Greek Freak needed any additional motivation….thanks, James Harden.
The Rockets coveted guard was interviewed by The Jump on ESPN’s Rachel Nichols, and before its end, he sent a shot to the Giannis Antetokounmpo’s game, citing that it takes “zero skill to be 7-foot and dunk a basketball”.
And how more wrong could he come across?
Well, Giannis was clearly out for blood since being perturbed by that erroneous statement, further proceeding to bulldoze the upstart Thunder by 47 points in a 32p-13r-6ast night in only 27 minutes. Two days later, he became the second player in franchise history to post up a 40+ point, 20+ rebound and 5+ assist game since Kareem Abdul Jabbar with a dominant 41-point, 20-rebound, and 6-assist outing against the Charlotte Hornets in a 95-83 road win. They’re well on the way to 70 wins, and it will take something weird for that not to occur.
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2. Los Angeles Lakers (46-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 2)
In LeBron James’ world, age ain’t nothin’ but a number apparently. The 35-year old in his 17th year posted his league-leading 13th triple-double in a know-your-place kind of gritty road win over the New Orleans Pelicans, who fell three games behind the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies with their loss to this Lakers team on Sunday night. It seemed at times that James was turning back the clock on multiple occasions against New Orleans on Sunday night, scoring an efficient 34 points, snatching 12 rebounds and dishing out 13 assists in an eight-point win without Anthony Davis.
More importantly, the combined efforts of JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard opposed the overly-proficient finishing ability of Zion Williamson under the bucket down the stretch as the Lakers remained the 3rd best defensive team in the NBA.
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3. Los Angeles Clippers (41-19, Last Week’s Ranking: 6)
As the weeks go by and this Clippers team stays healthy, they proven to look the part of the West’s most favored team to get out of the conference with how dominant Paul George and Kawhi Leonard look when they share the same court, as evident in Sunday’s win over the Philadelphia 76ers who were without Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid.
Sure, they gave up 39 points to Philly’s Shake Milton, who scored his career-high off 7-of-8 shooting from downtown, but the more important stat: four of the team’s five best players scored in the double-digits as Kawhi dropped 30, Paul George, Montrezl Harrell, and Lou Williams all combined for 72 points with 24 each. The Clippers have one of the, if not the deepest rotations in the league, and the second unit off the bench combined for 69 points. They’re rounding into shape, and you have to wonder if the sky is the limit for these Clippers who are still adjusting to one another with their 41-win season.
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4. Boston Celtics (41-18, Last Week’s Ranking: 4)
February may have ended sourly for the Celtics, who lost two close games to two Western elites in the span of a week, but amidst the injuries and precautionary resting of key pieces like Kemba Walker, they have to feel pretty proud finishing the month with a 9-3 record, and with Jayson Tatum rounding the corner to superstardom. Tatum averaged 30.7 points on 49.4% from the field and 48.1% from 3 in a month to remember for the first-time All-Star.
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5. Houston Rockets (39-20, Last Week’s Ranking: 7)
Houston rises two spots in this week’s rankings, particularly due to the suddenly effective and efficient play of Russell Westbrook who on Saturday against the Celtics turned in what may have been the game of the season for the nine-time All-Star. He scored 41 points off 16-of-27 shooting, constantly putting the pressure on whoever Boston switched onto him as he bull-rushed and attacked the rim whenever he saw fit in Houston’s 111-110 win in overtime.
The small-ball Rockets are largely benefitting from his contributions in the new year as Westbrook has averaged 32.9 points per game on 53.3% shooting so far as well as 7.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists during the span of 2020’s two months. The only other player to average at least 30 points, seven rebounds and seven assists over the past two months: his backcourt compadre’ and other half of the highest-scoring backcourt in the league, James Harden.
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6. Toronto Raptors (42-18, Last Week’s Ranking: 3)
Toronto is starting to lose its lumber, and it’s not entirely indicative of Nick Nurse’s rotations and lineup combinations, but because of the injuries that have piled up as they’ve dropped three straight to Milwaukee, Charlotte and Denver. Just as Norman Powell comes back, Fred VanVleet and Serge Ibaka goes down accordingly, joining Marc Gasol on the sideline.
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7. Denver Nuggets (41-19, Last Week’s Ranking: 5)
Denver has won six of their last eight, and in their 133-118 win over Toronto determined a growing reality that this Nuggets team is balanced, defensively unrelenting, and tougher as every game passes by. They bounced back from a loss to the Clipppers on Friday night with a signature Nikola Jokic trip-dub on Sunday, as the Serbian big man posted up 23 points, 18 rebounds and 11 assists in the win. They now look at a soft spot on the schedule with the ultimate confidence, as games against Golden State, Charlotte, and Cleveland appear this week on the schedule.
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8. Oklahoma City Thunder (37-23, Last Week’s Ranking: 10)
Despite getting shellacked by the league-best Milwaukee Bucks in a 47-point loss, it didn’t detract from much for this Thunder team as they finished February with 14 wins in their past 18 contests, and overall 31-12 record since Thanksgiving, the third-best win record in the league in that span.
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9. Miami Heat (38-22, Last Week’s Ranking: 8)
a 2-2 week saw bizarre and confusing losses to Cleveland and Minnesota to start the week, and then Miami ended their week on a good note, with quality wins over Dallas and Brooklyn. Keep in mind that the integration of Andre Iguodala has been a slow process, and though the sample size is small, the Heat are a minus-39 per 100 possessions in 32 averaged minutes when both Jimmy Butler and Iggy are on the floor together. But, as an antithesis to that logic, the Heat haven’t been fully healthy with Kendrick Nunn and Tyler Herro both missing time.
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10. Dallas Mavericks (37-24, Last Week’s Ranking: 11)
The Unicorn is back, and in full form. Kristaps Porzingis dropped a season-high 38 points off 13-25 shooting against the Timberwolves, and with a month-capping performance like that of Sunday’s win, Porzingis has had at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in four of his past 11 games. He had only done that three times in his entire career, with most of those showings coming in him wearing Knicks uniform.
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11. Utah Jazz (37-22, Last Week’s Ranking: 9)
The good? Donovan Mitchell has scored at least 30 points in the Jazz’s last four contests, and has put up a true shooting percentage of over 60.8 percent. He’s reaching new levels of his game on the offensive end and has been at the forefront of Utah staying within the middle pack of the West. The bad? Utah has allowed 125.8 points per 100 possessions when Mitchell was on the floor during a 1-4 homestand right out of the All-Star break. Barring one more game against the tough Celtics, they can get back on track with game against Cleveland, New York, and Detroit this week.
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12. Indiana Pacers (36-24, Last Week’s Ranking: 13)
Indiana went 3-0 on the week, as Victor Oladipo is rounding back into shape with his combined 34 points off 12-of-24 shooting in the past two contests against Portland and Cleveland. But, they will have to carry on for the rest of the season without Jeremy Lamb, who suffered a gruesome knee injury as he tore his meniscus, tore his ACL, and broke his knee in a blowout loss to Toronto this past week.
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13. Philadelphia 76ers (37-23, Last Week’s Ranking: 12)
Philadelphia is in serious, and now imminent, danger of losing the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference to Indiana, now that their horrendous road record worsened against the Clippers in a 126-120 loss that, albeit, featured a career-best game from Shake Milton who scored 39 points and became the first Sixer since Allen Iverson to score 35+ points in a game with 7+ made three-pointers, resulted in Philly falling to 9-22 on the road this year. Only their Atlantic Division rival, the New York Knicks, have a worse record on the road this year. It’ll probably worsen with another game in LA without Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, but this time against the Lakers who will be healthy in their second and final game against Philly this year.
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14. New Orleans Pelicans (26-34, Last Week’s Ranking: 15)
Here’s a pretty startling stat for those viewing Zion Williamson’s start to his NBA career as something transformative for the league’s future: only Allen Iverson and Michael Jordan have had three 30-point games in their first 15 games of their career over the past 35 seasons, and Zion just entered that territory that looked so uncharted prior to the rookie phenom’s debut. Williamson is averaging 24.1 points per game on 59.3% shooting from the floor, and it’s becoming apparent that his early impact on the league is telling enough that he is destined to be an All-NBA talent someday.
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15. Memphis Grizzlies (29-31, Last Week’s Ranking: 14)
Memphis upset the Los Angeles Lakers in a 105-88 home win without the likes of Brandon Clarke and Jaren Jackson Jr., and behind the 27 points and 14 assists from the likes of ROY frontrunner Ja Morant, Memphis ended their league-worst post All-Star break in which Memphis had previously lost their last games. But, regardless of their positive result, they are to still be without Clarke (quad) and Jackson Jr. (knee) for the next couple of weeks. That’s not quite the news they want to hear with a diminishing three-game lead over New Orleans for the final playoff spot in the West.
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16. Orlando Magic (27-33, Last Week’s Ranking: 19)
Orlando finished their final week of February with a respectable 2-1 record, and could have likely gone 3-0 had Evan Fournier not botched a contested layup with little time remaining on the clock during a fastbreak in a loss to the Spurs on Saturday night. Still, they remain in the playoff picture with a big comeback win over the Brooklyn Nets, in which Aaron Gordon posted the first triple-double of his career. Since his Dunk contest snub and the end of the All-Star break, Gordon has been averaging 20 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, a steal and two blocks a game.
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17. Brooklyn Nets (26-33, Last Week’s Ranking: 16)
Brooklyn drops a spot in this week’s rankings, and will likely continue to do so as the loss of Kyrie Irving further dampens a season in which they were at worst to touch the playoffs, regardless if they were the seventh or eighth seed. The Nets finished last week win-less and dropped three of their last four after an ugly 23-point loss to the Hawks on Friday night. They’re hanging on by a thread to that final seed in the East and have shown troubles in closing out games, most notably in the clutch. During the final minute of each of those three games that resulted in losses, Brooklyn shot a combined 3-of-9 from the field, including 1-of-5 from 3.
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18. Sacramento Kings (26-34, Last Week’s Ranking: 20)
Don’t you turn your back on this Kings team just yet! Since Sunday’s 106-100 win over Detroit, they’ve won eight of their past 11 games, sit at 10th in the West, and are only three games out of a playoff spot, contending with the Pelicans, Grizzlies and Trail Blazers for that final seed. Keep in mind: they currently possess the league’s longest playoff drought, as they have not made it to the postseason since 2006.
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19. San Antonio Spurs (25-33, Last Week’s Ranking: 17)
It looks as if the playoff streak of 23 straight appearances to the postseason will see its eventual end since no good thing lasts forever. But for Spurs fans, the development of their two young stars in Dejounte Murray and Derrick White is trending upward and in a positive direction, as they are the only two players in the league averaging at least 10 points, three rebounds and three assists in fewer than 25 minutes per game.
This presumed backcourt will have plans laid for them in Gregg Popovich’s future, even if they have only logged 94 accumulated minutes as a duo. They haven’t played a lot together in this lost season, but with them being healthy in the future, things could get a little brighter in San Antonio. White and Murray were plus-10 in 45 minutes on the floor together in the month of February alone.
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20. Portland Trail Blazers (26-35, Last Week’s Ranking: 18)
Since Damian Lillard’s groin injury sustained before the All-Star break, the Blazers haven’t been able to keep their sinking ship afloat in their 1-5 record without the All-Star point guard setting foot on the floor. They’ll need him back, and rather sooner than later although their easy schedule this week permits it with games against Orlando, Washington, Phoenix, Sacramento, and Phoenix again coming on the way. But Lillard’s scoring impact won’t mean much in his return if the Blazers continue to lapse on defense — they’ve been a disaster guarding other teams this season, currently ranking 27th in team defensive rating.
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21. Washington Wizards (22-37, Last Week’s Ranking: 21)
Speaking of defense, Washington continues to be the league’s most inefficient defensive team, as they remain the 30th best defending team with their team-wide 115.0 defensive rating. But, as a plus, Bradley Beal is sort-of playing revenge ball for not getting selected to an All-Star roster, scoring over 50 points in consecutive contests in the span of a week, and the last game he didn’t lead the Wizards in scoring in a game was all the way back in January.
In February, Beal averaged 36.2 points per game and in a year where the Wizards could sneak into the playoffs, he could classify as a rare non-All-Star that would make an All-NBA First-Team.
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22. Phoenix Suns (24-37, Last Week’s Ranking: 22)
Phoenix may have hit rock bottom following their 115-99 loss to the lowly Warriors this past week, as highlighted by them putting out both DeAndre Ayton and Devin Booker on the floor together. Losing to the league’s worst team is a gut-check for any team, but losing by double-digits to a team that doesn’t even have the likes of any household names in their starting five is as disorienting and discomforting enough to warrant mistrust and doubt toward your teammates.
Suns forward Mikal Bridges told reporters afterward: “Go home, look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself if you really want to do this.”
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23. Atlanta Hawks (19-43, Last Week’s Ranking: 25)
Well hey, look at that…the Atlanta Hawks are playing as if they are to get into the top-20 for the first time this year…
That’s now eight of the last 10 games this young, impressionable Hawks team has won at home, and they’ve gotten it done against teams like Miami, Dallas, Trail Blazers and Clippers. They have an opportunity to get their 20th win on the year against Memphis on Monday night.
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24. Charlotte Hornets (21-39, Last Week’s Ranking: 24)
The Charlotte Hornets are further proof that the development and confiding of trust into your younger pieces ends up working in the long run, proven by their upset win over second-seeded Toronto in which they held the Raps to 96 points, the second-fewest points they’ve scored in a game all year. A couple of nights later, they end up losing to the Bucks but become the first team in 83 games to stop them from scoring 100 points, which at the time was the third-longest streak in league history. This 5-2 stretch over their last eight games has been largely predicated by their defense, ranking No. 6 in the league during that span.
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25. Chicago Bulls (20-40, Last Week’s Ranking: 23)
One win in their last nine games spells trouble for Jim Boylen’s future as the Bulls Head Coach. More importantly, their record on the road has been abysmal, and their last win outside of the United Center was on January 25 in Washington. This Bulls team cannot string together consecutive wins, dating back to their last 2-game win streak on January 25 and 27.
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26. Detroit Pistons (20-42, Last Week’s Ranking: 26)
Though the Pistons were finally able to snap their lengthy losing streak with Friday’s 113-111 win against the Phoenix Suns, in which Derrick Rose had to hit a game-winner to give his Pistons the win, that was their first and only win after the All-Star break. At times, however, they have played hard and looked competitive, as the growing Christian Wood has posted up averages of 20+ points and 10 rebounds since the team moved Markieff Morris, Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson ahead of the trade deadline and during the waiver period.
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27. New York Knicks (18-42, Last Week’s Ranking: 27)
Mitchell Robinson packed on a career-high 23 points and 10 rebounds against the Chicago Bulls, and both RJ Barrett and Kevin Knox contributed their respective 19 points and 12 rebounds in one of the most significant wins of the season for the Knicks. In a controversial, trying year, the young pieces that the Knicks possess certainly flashed some potential during last week. Although, it is to be determined if they can keep it up during this tough stretch of games against Houston on Monday night, Utah, OKC and Detroit in the rest of the week.
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28. Minnesota Timberwolves (17-42, Last Week’s Ranking: 28)
Minnesota picked up their first road win against Miami since Jan. 5 in an unpredictable outcome, as a result of a 12-point comeback on the road against the East’s fourth-best squad. And then, further proceeded to make more blunders by being fined from resting D’Angelo Russell back on Feb. 23. Two games against the Pelicans, Chicago, and Orlando await the T’wolves this week, who look at this season as an opportunity for growth and development of more chemistry between Russell and his new teammates.
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29. Cleveland Cavaliers (17-43, Last Week’s Ranking: 29)
It’s another week for J.B. Bickerstaff to conjure up some type of plan so that the presence of new Cavalier Andre Drummond doesn’t overcrowd the starting center responsibilities of Tristan Thompson, but the plan will be made easier if Drummond decides to cook defenses as he has for his entire career, evident from his 27-point outing against the Pacers on Saturday that included 13 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals in which Thompson did not play due to an illness. But contrary to that, Drummond was forced to miss two contests due to a sore left calf, and as a result of him missing out in Cleveland’s two games, Thompson’s fourth-quarter minutes resulted in wins in including an overtime win over the Heat.
Decisions, decisions…
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30. Golden State Warriors (13-48, Last Week’s Ranking: 30)
Welp, false alarm. Steph Curry didn’t make his much-anticipated March 1 return against the Wizards, which promptly resulted in a 124-110 loss to Washington. But, further speculation suggests that the Dubs could see Curry come back at some point in March, as he’s been taking the whole season to rehab his broken hand suffered back in October.
